The Third Quarter… Normally, the Lakers scoring just 32 points in the first half might mean they’d be down 30. Tonight, they were a little more dedicated to the defensive end in the first half, trailing just 40-32 at the half.

“When you’re committed to defense you always give yourself a chance to win games,” Luke said. “Unfortunately, that didn’t carry over into the third quarter.”

The Blazers heated from three in that quarter and blew the doors open with a 37-point quarter. The Blazers would score just 60 points in the other three quarters, but blasted the Lakers in the third.

“Every time we messed up a coverage or we misread a situation, they’ve got a lot of weapons offensively and they made us pay for it,” Luke said.

The threes were raining down and the flood gates opened. It was the first time the Lakers held an opponent under 100 points in the last 16 game, but the Lakers fell 97-81 to the Blazers.

The Lakers rested Brandon Ingram tonight, encouraging the tank to regain some momentum.

Russell -- -- Steady game from Russell, able to get into the paint for some scores, draw FTs and hit on the perimeter Some airballs early on as he faded backward on pull-ups. He was off-balance quite a bit on jumpers, I thought, but he still scratched out a good scoring game. Russell’s three shooting against the Blazers had been beyond abnormally poor for whatever reason. In fact, the three he hit in the second half was his first one against the Blazers this season in 16 attempts. Go back to preseason and he was 0-25 from three against Portland before that make. Crazy. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 8-19 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a -17. The Action: He and Brewer blocked a shot, Russell scooped up the loose ball, faked behind his back and scored the layup. He got fouled from behind on a pull-up wing jumper, he made both FTs. He airballed a pull-up at the top of the key, fading backwards on it. He missed a baseline jumper. He swished a long wing jumper in early offense (heels on the three line). He popped out behind a screen and missed the three off the catch. He iso’d and airballed a pull-up, again fading backward. He was blocked on a reverse. He missed a pull-up wing jumper. He attacked to his left and hit the runner at the rim. Second Half: He was stripped easily to start the half for points the other way. He sank a three off the Zubac screen. He missed a wing three. He hit Zubac for the 16-footer when the big plugged the lane on D. He took an outlet, lost the D with a behind-the-back dribble and scored the layup. He worked his way to the FT line off the screen and swished the And-1 pull-up, he made the FT. He fed Zubac cutting baseline for a three. Bad closeout and he gave up a jumper. He missed a fading baseline jumper on the other end. He missed a bank. He worked into the lane and hit a floater. He missed a wing three, slightly off-balance. He posted up and missed the wing jumper. He drew FTs on a swing through, he made both. He attacked down the middle of the paint and scored the finger roll.

Randle -- -- Not a lot of impact from Randle. His two scores were nice, a spin for a layup and then a dunk off a two-man sequences. He took (but missed) a couple of righty jumphooks. No three’s in this one and he seemed to fade in the second half, so Luke looked elsewhere for some impact. “Defensively, I think we made strides tonight but we got to get better,” Randle said. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-7 shooting to go with 9 boards, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 steal, 1 block and 3 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -21. The Action: He missed a jumphook. He rejected Lillard out of bounds. He posted up and missed the rare righty jumphook. Lazy inbounds pass, thrown away for FTs in the backcourt. He took his man off the dribble, spun and scored the layup with ease. He attacked and fired a quick interior pass to Larry for the dunk. He was blocked trying to create on iso. He jumped a passing lane for a steal, nearly threw it away with a bad lob. He charged on a drive. Second Half: He hammered down a big dunk off the two-man game with Clarkson. He missed a righty jumphook. He missed a layup on a nice drive.

Clarkson -- -- He hurt a finger late in the first half and got it taped up (diagnosed as a bruise). It seemed like there were stretches where he’d move the ball really well, then forget to. The ball stuck in his hands and others watched as he clanked away in the second quarter. The Lakers scored just 15 points in that quarter, and Clarkson shot 3-10 in the first half prior to his injury. Since he was struggling with his shot tonight, obviously the better stretches were when he was passing. He had some excellent feeds off the two-man game. This would have been the perfect night to go all in on the passing, but he couldn’t resist the temptation to shoot, so that really limited his impact on the game. "Offensively, we got whatever we wanted. We just missed shots tonight," JC said. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-16 shooting (1-4 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 6 assists, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 37 minutes. He was a -18. The Action: He missed a wing jumper off the screen. He sank the runner in the lane off a ball-fake. He attacked a seam but threw it away. He sank a pull-up 16-footer off the screen. He sank a sideline three working with Randle. He busted a play out of a timeout by not waiting in time for a screen, then lost the ball for a turnover trying to create on iso. He missed a three. He missed a wing jumper next time down. Way short on a 9-footer. Good form, but he missed the wing three short. He attacked the paint but couldn’t finish. He was stripped trying to create in the paint. He missed a drive right. Second Half: He missed a three straight away. Nice feed to Randle off the two-man game for the monster jam. He took a handoff on a curl and hit the floater. He kicked to Brewer for a three. He missed a floater. He missed a wing jumper. He was blocked on a drive, bringing the ball back to his strong hand. He attacked baseline and fed Nance for the layup. He attacked and was fouled on a scoop attempt, he made one FT. He probed and missed a wild jumper on a spin (had Zubac wide open).

Zubac -- -- Zubac had the greenlight to shoot the three in this game. We even set up a three for him out of a timeout at the end of the first half. He missed it, but I like seeing the confidence in Luke that this will be a part of his game in the future. Defensively, the Blazers were getting away with pushing him on the defensive glass. As he gets stronger, he will be harder to dislodge. Overall, he did his usual of hitting floaters off the two-man game and finding a jumper or two. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-9 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He missed an open three straight away. He missed a floater in the lane (he should have tried to get to the rim). He banked in the runner off the two-man game. Power dropstep middle but he couldn’t finish the short hook. Nice defensive work, angling off the dribble penetration, then recovering to his man to force a miss. He missed a three setup out of a timeout. Second Half: Soft touch on the floater on the two-man game in the middle of the paint. He hit a 16-footer off the two-man game. Great job cutting baseline to get open for Russell, who found him for the reverse. He missed a floater, altering it a little when the challenge came. He was fouled in the high post for FTs.

Brewer -- -- The Lakers rested Ingram with the tendinitis to miss his first game of the season. Brewer slid into the starting lineup. Not seeing all the young guys on the court does take a little fun of the game, but sitting BI for a little rest is probably a good idea with all the minutes he’s played this year. Brewer struggled to finish on the break early on in this one. He got up the floor with speed, but couldn’t complete the layups at the rim. Some good challenges and D early on. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-5 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks and no fouls in 19 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He couldn’t finish a lob on our first possession. He pushed it out with speed and missed the layup. He blocked a jumper. He blocked a big at the rim with Randle. He pushed out another board with speed and again missed the layup. He missed a wing three. Second Half: Wild miss on a finish on the break. He swished a sideline three on the kickout from Clarkson.

Nance -- -- Man, some poor shooting from the line, making just 1-5. He also missed a couple of three’s and an elbow jumper, so not that great from the perimeter anywhere. Still, serviceable minutes with some good hustle on D. He wasn’t as effective as the last game in being as disruptive. He did have a great sequence of pressure on the perimeter in the first half that forced a turnover as our D was pretty active. But we could have used a lot more of that. He ended up with more minutes than Randle. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-7 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-5 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 1 assist and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: Some swarming D with Brewer and they forced a turnover. Nice hands off a quick interior feed from Randle and Larry dunked. He missed a 70-footer at the buzzer. He sank an 18-footer on the pick and pop. He scored a layup trailing the break. Second Half: He was fouled under the hoop for FTs, he made one. He missed an elbow jumper. He missed a corner three. He scored an And-1 layup on the drive and dish from JC, he missed the FT. He was fouled trying to get post position, he missed both FTs.

Nwaba -- -- In the second half, he got a kickout to him on the right side, wide open and instead of shooting, he attacked a crowd and threw it away (a rare turnover from him). Someone must have said something to him because next time he got the open kickout, he took and swished the three. That’s what will likely make or break him. Can he be a three D and player? He doesn’t have to be a knockdown shooter to have a career in the NBA (see Brewer), but he needs to be a threat. He got some more praise from Luke after this one. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-4 shooting (1-1 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 turnover, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: Bad positioning and he gave up a layup on a drive. He attacked from the wing and hit the runner. Second Half: He didn’t want to take a three, attacked a crowd and threw it away. He swished a wing three on a kickout (there you go!). He backed his man down in the paint and banked in the And-1, he missed the FT. He filled the lane on the break and dunked.

Black -- -- His games lately have been very, very quiet. Since new management came on, he has hardly impressed. That could result in his option not being picked up despite having done really well for the team earlier in the year. With Mozgov and Zubac needing minutes next year and the Lakers increasingly trusting Nance and Randle at the C spot, that’s not working in his favor (especially since Magic had requested more minutes for Zu). The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting to go with 5 boards and 2 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He airballed a jumphook trying to create on iso. Blocked on a putback attempt. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Ennis -- -- One of his better games as a Laker and Luke gave him the minutes. Defensively, Luke praised him for hitting cutters on tags, which we’ve had trouble with from others. He led the team with 4 steals as the basketball gods reward intelligent effort. Offensively, he was aggressive getting to the rim for scores. The three shooting had a couple of attempts at the buzzer in there that make the shooting numbers look a little more misleading than they were. Good two-way game. Let’s see if Luke rewards him a little more in the next one. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-16 shooting (1-6 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 5 assists, 1 turnover, 4 steals and 1 foul in 25 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He missed a three. He missed an open 12-footer (got to hit those). He worked off the high screen and hit the elbow pull-up. He swiped a ball, pushed it out and hit Nance trailing for the score. Looked like he poked another one loose next time down. He missed an elbow jumper way short. He was fouled on a drive to his left. He attacked the paint, spun and scored at the rim. He setup Zubac on the two-man game for the layup. Second Half: He attacked quickly and missed a layup on a two-for-one sequence. He missed a 75-footer at the buzzer. He slithered through a crowd and scored a layup. He faked a handoff, attacked with speed and scored the layup over the help D. He missed a long three up against the shotclock. He got into the paint off a hesitation move and reversed around the big. He missed a good look at the short wing pull-up. He sank a three a couple feet behind the line. He missed next time down off the Nance screen. He deflected a pass off a man to get a stop. Not close on his third three in a row at the buzzer.

Walton -- -- Not a lot of fluidity to the Lakers offense early on and the Lakers had some fastbreaks they didn’t capitalize on. The Lakers trailed 11-8 when the timeout came midway through the quarter… Nance in for Zubac… Ennis, Nwaba in for Clarkson and Brewer… The Lakers trailed 22-17 after the first quarter… He started a Black, Nance, Nwaba, Clarkson, Ennis unit. Tank special lineup… They got outscored badly to start the second quarter, trailing by 12 when the timeout came 3 minute in. Clarkson a black hole… Ennis and Nwaba making things happen to cut the lead in half… Zubac and Randle back in... Russell back in with 3 minutes… All starters back in… We setup Zubac for a three attempt out of a timeout (he missed)… The Lakers trailed 40-32 at the half… The Lakers started working the two-man sequences well in the third quarter. They trailed by 5 when the timeout came… Nance in for Zubac, Lakers down 10… An 11-0 run. Blazers caught fire from three and the lead quickly ballooned to 21… He brought in Black and Ennis for Clarkson and Randle… The Lakers trailed 77-56 going into the fourth… He started a Black, Nance, Nwaba, Clarkson, Ennis unit… Garbage time fourth quarter minutes, although Luke liked the defensive effort in the fourth…

Bye._________________"This trophy removes the most odious sentence in the English Language. It can never be said again that 'the Lakers have never beaten the Celtics.'" -Dr. Jerry Buss (1985) R.I.P., 33 x M.V.O.

Wait - at times, the game was very funny to watch with both takes taking 3s, missing, the other team going on offense to take a 3 to miss again and again and again

The Clippers' epic lost of a 18 points lead with five minutes to play against the awful Sacramento Kings at HOME is a worse loss than what we have experienced - even the 40 points blowouts - the "Silver Lining"

Last edited by A Mad Chinaman on Mon Mar 27, 2017 3:31 am; edited 1 time in total